Minnesota Wild ride hot goalie, two late goals to win over Flyers

The Wild's offense was hard to see in the scoreless 43 minutes to start Monday's game against the Flyers.

So a second look was necessary to confirm just how tiny the window was that center Mikko Koivu used to fit a nifty pass through Flyers defensemen and find a teammate in front of the net.

Even Koivu didn't see which teammate it was in that sequence early in the third period. Zach Parise? Jason Pominville?

On second glance, it was Pominville who scored the game's first goal in a 2-0 win over Philadelphia before an announced crowd of 17,676 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

"It was pretty tight for him, too," Koivu said, comparing his 17th assist of the season to Pominville's 14th goal. "It was a good shot by him.

Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding (37), center, is congratulated on his shutout of the Flyers by teammates Erik Haula (56), left, and Marco Scandella (6) at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on December 2, 2013. (Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff)

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The Wild broke a four-game losing streak and coach Mike Yeo said it was a game where the answer to who was the playmaker could have been lengthy.

"We played the type of game that really allowed us to have that opportunity," Yeo said. "When we are playing well, then it might be a different guy every night."

But the first line of Koivu, Pominville and Parise has provided the leadership.

"Those guys have just been clutch for us lately," Yeo said. "It's great for those guys to get rewarded."

Less than a minute after Pominville's goal, center Charlie Coyle scored a rebound goal off a slapshot by defenseman Jared Spurgeon.

Despite the two goals, the Flyers outshot the Wild 11-6 in the final 20 minutes.

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The Wild needed to kill two penalties after taking the lead and a unit that ranked 25th in the NHL entering the game was up to the challenge.

"It was big," said center Kyle Brodziak. "Everybody did a good job on the (penalty kill). The centermen ... were winning the draws and we were able to get that first puck out of the zone. That is a big key for it."

On the first penalty kill, Koivu dove and disrupted a Flyers shot attempt in front of the net. Koivu's effort helped goalie Josh Harding earn his third shutout, already his career best for a season. He also entered Monday tied for second in the league in goals-against average at 1.52.

"He has been great; the numbers show that," Koivu said. "I think he has just been calm in the way he plays the puck. There are not a lot of rebounds, either."

Harding, who played in his 22nd game, credited the win to getting contributions from everyone -- and getting a bit lucky.

"(Defensemen) and forwards, all doing the right thing and everybody on the same page," he said.

As for the Jakub Voracek attempt when Harding had to dive to make the save ... "Desperation," he said. "You see an empty net and a guy with the puck and just throw your body over and it hit me. ... It was one of those ones where there is no skill to it. Got lucky."

In the first two periods, the Wild (16-8-5) had a 15-10 lead in shots, but they were 0 for 2 on the power play in a scoreless game.

"I thought that we lost momentum on our power play tonight and I thought that fed into a 0-0 game," Yeo said. "Obviously, when you go out there, the intention is to execute and create some chances, and we didn't. That fed into their game a little bit."

Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding (37) lunges for the puck, making another save in the third period at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on December 2, 2013. The Wild won 2-0. (Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff)